Today the great Armenian poet and publicist Razmik Davoyan passed away. The news of his death was announced to the media by his family. The writer died in Yerevan; he had been in poor health.
Razmik Davoyan would have turned 82 this year.
Razmik Davoyan was born on 3 July 1940 in the village of Mets Parni in the Spitak district. He received his primary education at the local school. In 1949 he moved with his family to Gyumri (Leninakan), where he completed secondary school and the local medical college. In 1964 he graduated from the Department of History and Philology of the Armenian State Pedagogical Institute named after Kh. Abovyan in Yerevan. While studying, he worked at the founding editorial board of the magazine “Gitutyun ev Tekhnika” (Science and Technology), and concurrently at the editorial board of “Grakan Tert” (Literary Paper) as a proofreader. From 1965 he headed the poetry and prose section of “Grakan Tert”. In 1970 he worked at the Committee for Cultural Relations with the Armenian Diaspora as a senior adviser. From 1975 to 1990 he was the executive secretary of the State Prizes Committee of Armenia. In 1989 he was appointed first deputy chairman of the Disaster Zone Commission of the Supreme Council of Armenia. From 1991 to 1999 he was the chairman of the Armenia administration of the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Union. From 1994 to 1996 he was elected chairman of the board of the Writers’ Union of Armenia. From 1999 to 2003 he was an adviser to the President of the Republic of Armenia. From 2005 to 2007 he was the director of the “Yerevan” documentary film studio. From 2007 to 2018 he was an adviser to the director of the H1 television channel.
Davoyan was the author of more than 40 collections and books, including in Russian, Czech and English. His works have been published in Italian, French, Yugoslav, Iranian, Chinese and American periodicals. Razmik Davoyan’s life and work have been covered by “Literaturnaya Gazeta”, the French “Le Figaro”, the British “The Times” and “Wasafiri” periodicals.
